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jacAPPS head guy, Paul Jacobs, combines a little Motor City with a lot of Cupertino to discuss the differences between innovation and obsolescence in today’s blog post.

One my favorite apps (and yes, it’s one we didn’t build) is for Major League Baseball. It’s the best $15 I’ve ever spent.  As a baseball freak, I’m in touch with my beloved Detroit Tigers no matter what part of the globe I’m in.  As the 2011 season approached, I bought the new version and anxiously awaited opening day.

My brother?  Not so lucky.  He still has an iPhone 3 (we keep it around for testing apps).  Unlike the past two seasons, the new MLB app won’t work on his phone.  (By the way, he can’t download the Delta Airlines app either for the same reason.)

In 1960, Vance Packard, who was a keen observer of the culture, wrote a book called The Waste Makers.  Packard called out corporations for “the systematic attempt of business to make us wasteful, debt-ridden, permanently discontented individuals.”  Packard was referring to the practice of “planned obsolescence,” where a company makes a substandard product knowing full well that it would break easily or quickly go out of style.  The practice, which was attributed to the auto industry, creates a system where consumers are either always chasing the next big thing, or simply need to upgrade old products, simply didn’t last long.  Ultimately, consumers became angry with the automakers because planned obsolescence became equated with shoddy, poorly engineered products.

I was reminded of this when I saw a study recently from the consumer electronics site, Retrevo.  They found that 6 in 10 smartphone owners expect their devices to become obsolete before their contracts expire.

This feels quite a bit different than what we experienced in the ‘60s and ‘70s, when cars started shaking at 40,000 miles and things stopped working.  Planned obsolescence back then was a strategy based on poor quality products and incremental change.  The consumer was pretty much trapped because of limited options – there were only three viable car companies back then.

That’s not the case with smartphones.  Their version of planned obsolescence is predicated on the unbelievable speed of innovation. The older models were designed to handle the available technology when they were created, but couldn’t anticipate the greater demand and capacity that consumers continue to crave.

In this case and in these times, this modern-day obsolescence is indicative of a healthy industry and economy.  There is more consumer choice than ever.  Innovation abounds.  Smartphones are amazing.  Rumors spread about next generation smartphones and how they will change our lives.

Who can’t wait for the iPhone 5?  What will Google do to respond?  What about the white iPhone?  What can BlackBerry do to get back in the game?

Will smartphones become more expensive, or will competition drive down costs, which will continue to fuel this amazing cycle?

Car buyers weren’t feeling this way 40 years ago.  Obsolescence meant the consumer was screwed, and innovation was stagnant.  Why add new features and build a more reliable vehicle if you don’t have to?  This mentality opened the door to foreign competitors and as a resident of the Motor City, we learned first-hand about the true cost of these business practices.

Today, obsolescence is synonymous with innovation.  In the smartphone and software development industries, it is defined by new products, features, speed, functionality, customization, and more.  Consultant Tomi Ahonen says that consumers replace their cell phones every 18 months.  And they do so gladly.  They look forward to the new models, loaded with cool new features and functionality.  And they brag about their new phones just like ‘60s guys showed off their new cars.

You have to wonder what Lee Iacocca thinks of all this.

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Auto, Future, Process, Smartphones, Technology

No, not Waldo.  Radio.

In the MyFord Touch video below, you’ll see a 1:50 walk-through of their Sync system – climate control, the USB port, turn-by-turn directions, etc.

>EMAIL RECIPIENTS: CLICK HERE TO VIEW MYFORD TOUCH VIDEO<

But do you see radio anywhere in this demo?

Hint: At the :30 mark, there’s a shot of the entire screen (that resembles Bloomberg News), and on the left-hand side, you’ll briefly see the AM/FM and Sirius – along with the other array of entertainment options.  Watch quickly because it’s not on for long.

To win the consumer’s share of mind in one of these vehicles, radio is going to have to work hard to get and hold her attention.

In your first car, the entertainment “module” probably looked more like this:

Those were the days.

P.S. Thanks to Radio-Info for featuring us in their series. In this guest column, I talk about "best practices" for going to school on mobile. Hope you like it. You can copy and paste the link here: New Media: The Future Is Now

http://www.radio-info.com/new-media/the-future-is-now/think-mobile-first?utm_source=Subscribers&utm_campaign=5beb405027-TRI_02-18-2011&utm_medium=email

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Apps, Auto, Mobile, Radio, Streaming

We've spent considerable time talking about Pandora in this blog, and justifiably so.  Over the past couple of years – especially accelerated by smartphones – Pandora has reached new peaks – now 80 million users.  And they’re going for more.

As we have discussed, founder Tim Westergren has made it a point to make sure that his Internet radio station is everywhere.  Many say that 2011 will be the year that Pandora goes public.  Whether or not that happens, it is impossible to ignore the impact that Pandora is having – something that we’re also continuing to track in our Tech Surveys.

Some argue that Pandora has no discernable business model, or that commercials will kill it, or that Internet radio’s TSL is low, or other rationalizations.  But however you think of Pandora, "Chairman" Westergren’s philosophy is noteworthy.  His often doesn’t look at the world like radio broadcasters do.

And I will leave that to you to decide whether we’re missing something important here, regardless of Pandora’s financial model.  Here are selected quotes from a recent Fast Company piece that focuses on Pandora, their approach to music, and pleasing their rapidly growing audience:

• “(Hiring music lovers) is the magic bullet for us.  I can’t overstate it.  It’s been the most important part of Pandora.  It defines us in so many ways.”
• “We want Pandora to feel like it’s talking to you.  We also literally talk to people.  We have a team of people who are called listener advocates.  Their job is just to respond personally to every single email, phone call, or letter we get.  The identity of Pandora is forged through these collective interactions.”

• “The big arenas for us are the car, half of all radio listening happens in the car so it’s very important, and then there’s this ecosystem of connected devices with everything from blu-ray players and flat-screen TVs  to refrigerators – Samsung just unveiled a refrigerator with Pandora.  Virtually every piece of new (consumer electronic device) is Web-enabled and if it has audio or a speaker it could deliver Pandora.  There are over 200 connected devices that can stream Pandora.”
• “The one thing that is shaking up the industry right now is personalization.  It’s becoming more of a standard for consumers.  I think that increasingly, people are expecting that they should be able to personalize their radio channels.  That combined with the increasing number of distribution points is a very powerful combination.”
• “The general scaling of the Internet means that automation is tending to increase.  As companies try to become more efficient, cut costs, do bigger things less expensively, automation is a common answer to that.  And I think we’re going to continue to cut against the grain (by relying on people)…”

That’s something to think about the next time voicetracking is offered as a cost-savings solution.  It is radio’s personality that makes its content proprietary and unique.  And let's not forget customer service and focus on the listener. 

Westergren gets that.  He just doesn’t have the personalities, the DJs, the concierges, the guides – yet.  At least for now, that’s still radio’s “secret sauce.”

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Apps, Auto, Marketing, Smartphones

While you were doing that last minute bit of Christmas shopping late last year, Ford was unveiling its newest dashboard innovation – AppLink for SYNC.

Up to now, systems like SYNC simply used Bluetooth to hook up smartphones with cars.  In this way, you could simply punch up one of the apps you downloaded on your iPhone, Droid, or BlackBerry Storm, and it would sound pretty cool coming out of your car speakers.  But all the controls of your app still had to be moved and manipulated on your phone.

Until now, that is.

With AppLink, mobile developers can now create apps that can be controlled using the basic voice commands.  As a result, there’s a great hands-free advantage to these apps, and a fun, exciting way for drivers to better use their entertainment-oriented applications.

The first three AppLink apps are Pandora (of course), Stitcher’s mobile news service, and OpenBeak, a Twitter app for BlackBerry users only.

Once again, Pandora is at the forefront of yet another important platform.  And the message to everyone else is loud and clear:

Get going on the mobile strategy and focus on the customer experience.

Right now, AppLink will only be available on 2011 Fiestas (the young demo car), but you can bet Ford will spread this technology to other models in a short period of time.  And yesterday, Toyota unveiled its "Entune" system, featuring the ubiquitous Pandora, iheartradio, and HD Radio as well. 

It's another reason why we are committed to being at CES in Las Veags starting tonight, and we’ll check out AppLink, as well as the other exciting new innovations.  If you're attending the show, let's meetup.  And if you're just getting 2011 going, we're excited to be your eyes and ears at CES.  We'll be offering our perspective to Inside Radio about how the show has ramifications for radio.  

And of course, we'll keep you updated via this blog and for more immediate coverage, follow us on Twitter at @fnjacobs and @pauljacobsmedia.

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Auto, Gadgets, Technology, Usability